"Young Master, this is the child Young Master Huai has just given birth to. It's a little ger."
A guard held the tiny swaddled infant and knelt respectfully before Song Qinyin.
Song Qinyin glanced at the baby, the icy gleam in his eyes utterly undisguised. "Send him to the brothel. I want him raised there from infancy and trained into the lowest sort of prostitute."
The guard shuddered.
This was a newborn baby! His young master was truly vicious beyond belief.
The guard did not dare reveal anything unusual. He silently pitied the child, then turned and carried him away.
It was deep into the night, and rain poured down in torrents.
Huai Qingyu had labored for the entire night before finally managing to give birth. Basin after basin of bloody water had been carried away, and the whole room reeked of blood.
His face was deathly pale. In unbearable pain, he clutched the blood-soaked sheet beneath him.
He breathed faintly and looked toward the young maid beside him. "H-has Young Master still not returned? Could… could you ask him to find a physician for me?"
A trace of pity flashed through the maid's eyes. Her young master was right outside the door, but she still shook her head and lowered her gaze. "Young Master is still on duty. We can't find him either."
The midwife stood helplessly nearby, looking both worried and guilty as she watched Huai Qingyu break out in a cold sweat from the pain. "Young Master Huai, this old servant is to blame. I've made you suffer!"
Although her face showed apology, inwardly she was filled with contempt for Huai Qingyu.
She had delivered children for decades. How could she possibly be incapable of dealing with a difficult labor in a pregnant man?
But Huai Qingyu was a filthy wretch, carrying his former husband's child rather than their young master's offspring. What right did he have to expect her to help deliver it?
Fortunately, their young master had not lost his mind. He had instructed her long ago not to assist Huai Qingyu with the birth.
The young master had said that the more Huai Qingyu suffered, the greater the reward he would give them!
Outside the room, after Song Qinyin finished giving his orders, he sat leisurely in the courtyard drinking tea.
It was the depths of winter, and the night air was bitterly cold. Song Qinyin's hands had turned bright red from the chill.
Yet he seemed not to notice and simply continued drinking his tea.
He had sat beside the freezing stone table for several hours and listened to Huai Qingyu scream for just as long.
The more he listened, the more delighted he felt.
When a subordinate came to report, the hand lifting his cup to his lips paused. He lowered his eyes disdainfully and sneered, "He's begging me to call a physician to help with the delivery? Is he worthy?"
After draining his cup, he instructed the servant, "Ignore him. Just let him hurt. Better if the pain kills him!"
He remained there for another half hour or so, until his whole body was numb with cold.
Only when he had sat long enough did he rise abruptly. A trace of cruelty and terror appeared on his originally dazzlingly beautiful face.
He casually hurled the teacup in his hand to the ground, where it shattered instantly.
Then he strode straight into the birthing room.
The heavy smell of blood inside was so thick it almost stung the eyes shut.
When Huai Qingyu saw him enter, a smile appeared on his pale face.
But his first thought was of the baby. He hurriedly asked, "Qinyin, where is my child?"
Song Qinyin leaned back slightly and looked at him with obvious disgust. In a light, careless tone, he said, "I sent him to the brothel. In a few years, perhaps he'll become a famous courtesan."
His tone was casual, as though he were discussing something perfectly ordinary. Huai Qingyu did not react at first.
But a moment later—
He began struggling like a madman and lunged toward Song Qinyin. His bloodless face was filled with fear and disbelief. "A-Yin, what do you mean? You're joking with me, aren't you? You want to send my child to… to a filthy place like a brothel?"
Yet the instant his fingers brushed the hem of Song Qinyin's robe, Song Qinyin kicked him away without the slightest mercy.
The blow struck his chest with crushing force. Huai Qingyu collapsed to the floor at once, barely able even to lift his eyelashes.
He stared at Song Qinyin in disbelief. "Why? Why would you do this? When you fell into a brothel, I redeemed you. I helped you avenge your father's murder. Why would you do this?"
Song Qinyin clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at Huai Qingyu. Tears spilled from his eyes at the same time as a smile spread across his face, making him appear both deranged and utterly cold.
He glared at Huai Qingyu with hatred and revulsion and spoke in a voice like a demon whispering in his ear. "You helped me because you wanted my gratitude, didn't you? But of all the things you should never have done, you should never have murdered Jiaxu just to steal the credit for saving me!"
"Jiaxu?" Huai Qingyu coughed violently twice. The name was completely unfamiliar to him.
Seeing the confusion on his face, Song Qinyin lifted his sleeve to wipe away his tears. His eyes were filled with mockery and venom.
"You executioner. You don't even remember?
"Back then, Jiaxu secretly went to save me. If you hadn't killed him because you wanted my gratitude for yourself, he should have been my true savior!
"You killed the person dearest to my heart. Why shouldn't I sell your child to a brothel, let countless men use him, and make you suffer to the bone?
"Huai Qingyu, once you were the Qin family's adopted son, the lofty Young Master Huai. But now the Qin family has fallen. You're nothing but damaged goods, and you still want that bastard of yours to call me Father? Are you worthy?"
A chill spread through Huai Qingyu's entire body.
He was so furious that he suddenly burst into laughter.
His laughter was full of despair and grief. His heart felt numb and frozen, while helplessness spread through every part of him.
So that was it!
Years ago, when the Song family was convicted, Song Qinyin had been sent to a brothel as a criminal and reduced to a plaything anyone could buy.
A once-brilliant and noble young gentleman had fallen overnight into such degradation. Huai Qingyu had thought it unbearably pitiful.
At the time, he had barely been able to protect himself, yet he still spent every coin he had to save Song Qinyin.
He pitied Song Qinyin's tragic fate. He had intervened only because he wanted to spare him from sinking into prostitution. He had never expected Song Qinyin's gratitude, and he had not even known Meng Jiaxu existed. How could he possibly have harmed Meng Jiaxu?
It was only much later that he learned by chance that Meng Jiaxu had also been in that brothel at the time.
And when Huai Qingyu investigated, he discovered that Meng Jiaxu had not gone there to rescue Song Qinyin at all. Greedy and vain, Meng Jiaxu had been caught stealing cosmetics belonging to an official's daughter and was sent to the brothel to repay the debt.
Meng Jiaxu could barely save himself. How could he possibly have gone there to rescue Song Qinyin?
Song Qinyin was blind to people's true nature. He treated the morally rotten Meng Jiaxu like a pure and sacred treasure, convinced that Meng Jiaxu had appeared in the brothel for his sake.
Meanwhile, he hated Huai Qingyu—the person who had actually saved him—and even sent the child Huai Qingyu had nearly died giving birth to into that vile place.
Song Qinyin deserved to die!
The more Huai Qingyu thought about it, the more desperate he became. He wished he could crawl up and strangle Song Qinyin to death.
But his entire body was covered in blood, and he had not a shred of strength left.
Helplessness flooded him. With the last of his strength, he could only laugh wildly until tears poured down his face.
His despairing laughter echoed through the entire courtyard.
Only after his voice had gone hoarse did he stop. His face streaked with tears, he stared at Song Qinyin. "Make me suffer to the bone? Not really. I never wanted this child all that much to begin with. After all, his biological father is just as disgusting as you are! What I truly regret is helping ingrates like all of you!"
The child's biological father was his foster brother, Qin Qihe.
Huai Qingyu had once saved the current Chief Minister, Qin Gongming. Qin Gongming adopted him as a son, and Qin Qihe thus became his foster elder brother.
Qin Qihe treated him very well, and Huai Qingyu regarded him as a real elder brother.
Yet on the night before Qin Qihe was due to sit the palace examination, Huai Qingyu discovered that Qin Qihe's page, Yan Chengbi, had secretly drugged Qin Qihe's tea.
He caught Yan Chengbi and questioned him sternly, only to learn that Yan Chengbi did not want Qin Qihe to become the top-ranked scholar.
Although Yan Chengbi was only a servant, he had followed Qin Qihe for years. Qin Qihe had discovered his talent for learning.
Qin Qihe did not care about his humble status and kept him by his side, personally teaching him. Yan Chengbi had learned a great deal and hoped to use his education to escape slave status.
He feared that once Qin Qihe became the top-ranked scholar and left to serve as an official, Qin Qihe would no longer have time to teach him. That was why he planned to drug Qin Qihe and make him miss the palace examination.
Huai Qingyu was utterly stunned by Yan Chengbi's selfishness.
For the sake of his own desires, this page was actually willing to destroy the entire future of Qin Qihe, who had treated him like a younger brother!
Missing the palace examination would constitute grave disrespect toward the emperor.
Qin Qihe would never be able to become an official for the rest of his life!
Huai Qingyu prepared to tell Qin Qihe what had happened.
But Yan Chengbi knew that once the matter was exposed, he would inevitably be beaten to death. His eyes suddenly shifted, and he swallowed the entire packet of poison he had intended for Qin Qihe. The overdose made blood pour from his seven orifices, and he died.
Yan Chengbi's suicide shocked Huai Qingyu deeply.
After all, although Yan Chengbi was selfish and malicious, once his scheme failed, he had chosen death without hesitation in order to reduce his suffering. At the very least, that proved he could be ruthless even toward himself.
A lowly man who would harm a master who treated him like a brother merely to get ahead—ruthless to others and even more ruthless to himself—was no different from keeping a tiger at one's side.
Fortunately, a vicious man like Yan Chengbi had died early of his own accord.
Huai Qingyu had been sincerely relieved.
He had discovered Yan Chengbi's malicious intentions in advance and saved Qin Qihe—and with him, the entire Qin household.
To Huai Qingyu, the affair had been nothing more than a brief episode.
He soon forgot it.
Qin Qihe also appeared not to care much about Yan Chengbi's death.
The next day, dressed neatly and in high spirits, he attended the palace examination on time. In the end, he won first place and was directly appointed to an official post by the emperor.
With the Chief Minister as his father as well, Qin Qihe's career flourished. He eventually rose to the first rank, beneath only one man and above everyone else.
Later, after Huai Qingyu's fiancé broke off their engagement, Huai Qingyu's reputation was ruined and no one wanted to marry him.
Qin Qihe appeared before him in magnificent robes, handsome and dazzling as the sun.
He walked up to the filthy, disheveled Huai Qingyu, took his hand, and said he had loved him for a long time and wished to marry him.
Huai Qingyu married Qin Qihe full of expectation.
Yet on their wedding night, Qin Qihe seized him by the throat, whipped him, cursed him, and finally forced himself on him in front of the entire household.
Afterward, Huai Qingyu was thrown into the woodshed and locked there for three days and three nights.
Only when he was covered in wounds and barely alive did Qin Qihe finally come to see him.
Dazed, Huai Qingyu grabbed Qin Qihe's hand, called him "Brother," and asked why he was treating him this way.
Qin Qihe mercilessly pinned Huai Qingyu's hand beneath his foot and crushed his fingers. "Don't touch me! You filthy wretch. Who is your brother? You killed an innocent person. What right do you have to live happily?"
Huai Qingyu heard the crisp sound of bones breaking and bit down hard on his lower lip to suppress his cry of pain.
He lifted his pale, thin face and met Qin Qihe's bloodshot eyes in bewilderment.
Qin Qihe's eyes were filled with hatred and disgust.